Greater New Orleans

DIY home repair becoming the in thing

View full sizeLou Manfredini: Ace Hardware's home expertI was supposed to meet Lou Manfredini, the home expert who's the face of Ace Hardware, while he was in town last month for an Ace franchise owners' convention to talk trends, but because of a busy schedule (his) and that stomach virus that was going around (mine), we ended up missing a meeting in person and instead chatting by phone recently.

Come to find out, the Ace retail people were already talking about Christmas, but Manfredini was more interested this day in talking green trends without the dashes of red -- that is, about eco-friendly projects and products.

And about New Orleans, where he loves to eat.

"I've spent a fair amount of time there the last six years, " he said. "People in New Orleans are wonderful and a very strong group.

"I'd been down there and done some stories six months after Katrina on rebuilding. ... We did a TV show in the Musicians Village. Met some wonderful people, and Ace did a project rebuilding a local school."

Manfredini has plenty of professional cred: He started his own construction company in Chicago in 1985; today, he represents Ace and is also the home improvement expert for NBC's Today Show and a frequent guest on CNN, HGTV, Discovery and the History Channel. He hosts his own television show in Chicago and a syndicated radio show there as well.

On the green side, Manfredini says that more and more companies are realizing there's an opportunity in figuring out ways to conserve and reduce carbon footprints.

"There's a thing to install on an existing toilet to use even half (the water) from a regular low-flush toilet, " he said. "It creates a dual flush mode and can save up to 15,000 gallons annually. That's bigger than a swimming pool. The average in-ground pool is about 12,000 gallons."

The HydroRight Dual Flush converter is about $25. "You literally remove the flapper from the toilet, slide this thing over the top and remove the handle on toilet. Loose the nut on the inside by hand or pliers and replace with the new handle. You invest $25 and 15 minutes and you can save 15,000 gallons annually. It's a no-brainer, in my opinion."

The economy has necessitated another form of conservation.

"The home-maintenance thing" -- as opposed to DIY home improvements -- "will be a big trend over the next five years, " he said. "It's an opportunity not to waste and to be more conservative, and to help the environment, too.

"The recession has taught people to try to do stuff themselves. That's never been more popular than now. They say, 'I've never fixed a flapper on a toilet, but I'm willing to try it for $5 (for the part.)'"

I was curious about how people learn these skills. My kids were never offered shop classes, so the older one is no more handy than I am, and the younger learned everything he knows in a theater class called stage craft.

"There are generations of people who have no clue, but have the desire.

"Schools are coming back to it. On a personal note, my old (construction) business partner had a career change in his late 30s. He got a master's and became an industrial arts teacher at the high school level, because schools are starting to realize not everybody is going to college and that we need carpenters and plumbers and electricians. He says his (class) enrollment is one of the highest in high schools in suburban Chicago. ... Behind these generations that don't know anything, there'll be more coming up.

"These are great professions to make a living. If you do something you love, it's never work."

But he was on the line to talk about Ace, and he deftly steered the conversation back in its direction.

"The company has been around over 85 years, and more and more people are coming in and saying, 'I want to come in, get help and get out of here, '" he said.

If someone needs advice on a project, the stores train associates to know their stuff, but "retailers have a direct pipeline to me if they get stumped on a question, " he added.

Talking about all his face time on videos and on TV, I couldn't help but recall those first months (and years) after Katrina when plumbers and electricians were like the new rock stars: Everyone was thrilled to see them -- and willing to pay big bucks for it.

Is Manfredini a fix-it rock star?

"This morning -- I'm a runner, so it was about 7 a.m, a beautiful day in Chicago -- as I was finishing, a car pulled up and (the driver) said, 'Hey, you're Lou. I'm having a problem with flooding in the basement.'

"I stop. I walk over. I'm sweaty and I'm half laughing, and she's asking, 'Should I do this?' I answered; she said, 'Thanks a lot, ' and she kept going on her way.

"I'm very humble about that. A lot of people want to do this (kind of job), and I sort of backed into it. I have a lot of Catholic guilt. I joke with my wife and say, 'Some day I'm going to be too old and too fat and too bald to be on TV.'"

Ever the spokesman, he added, "We actually bought an Ace store in Chicago."

Here are the tools that Lou Manfredini, the home expert for Ace Hardware, says should be in every house.

TOOL BOX: "Some double as step stools, and they're best in the world to buy."

HAMMER

SET OF PLIERS: Needle-nose, regular and slip-joint, which is for plumbing work. "The mouth gets really wide, like for doing a P trap under the sink, " Manfredini says.

SET OF SCREWDRIVERS: Phillips and standard, in different sizes, including a tiny one "for replacing batteries in kids' toys, " Manfredini says.

TAPE MEASURE: Get one at least 25 feet long, he says, so you can use it even when laying out furniture or landscaping outside.

SMALL LEVEL: "A torpedo level 10-inch that can fit in the tool box is good, but a 2-foot level is more versatile."

UTILITY KNIFE: "This is a must-have, for cutting opening packages or cutting rope."

SAW: A small one that fits in the tool box.

CORDLESS DRILL: "A small one with pocket drivers that uses a lithium ion battery, so you can leave it in the tool box, and almost 18 months later it will still hold almost 70 percent of the charge. Most of us don't use it a lot, so the $69 or so is a little costly, but they're great for assembling furniture or doing small repairs."